Do you want to play?
by Ash-Castle
Summary: Fred and George have invented a new game and challenge their friends to play. They spend an afternoon down the rabbit hole playing and having fun.


"It's a new game we invented!" Fred told them

"Yeah! You know that book 'Alice in Wonderland'?" George asked.

"They even have a movie-"

"You should have seen it!"

"So we made a game!" Fred finished with a flourish, and brought the game out from under his cloak. The residents of Grimmauld Place eyed the brothers warily. They all knew some of Fred and George's games bordered on dangerous.

"How does it work?" Hermione asked. She was caught between excitement and fear. She loved Alice in Wonderland, but combining that world with any magic could prove treacherous.

"It's easy! You put your hand on this" Here Fred unfolded the piece of cardboard. Surprisingly there wasn't much on it, just a picture of a hole in the grass.

"Then all the players say 'Down the rabbit hole!' and you will be in the game." George demonstrated, his hand hovering over the board.

"How did you make it exactly?" Remus wanted to know. The twins might be brilliant, but this seemed crazier than their usual ideas.

"It's a combination of a portkey and a daydream charm, along with a few other charms."

"That way all the players can have the same experience and enter at the same time." Fred's excitement was growing. He started bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"So what are the rules?" This from Sirius. He was catching Fred's excitement.

"So once we enter the game. We will all become characters from the book."

Ginny interrupted George. "Is there a limit on how many players can enter?"

"Not really," Fred answered her. "But after so many everyone starts to become cards. There are only so many main characters."

"Once you enter the game you have to complete the challenges and make it to the end of the game." George continued his explanation.

"Has this been tested?" Harry asked. Ron looked at the Twins waiting for their answer. It wouldn't be the first time they had used them as guinea pigs for their products.

"Of course it has!" Fred assured them.

"We tested it ourselves!" George said.

"So why do you need us?" Hermione asked, still wary.

"Well princess, we tried it with just the two of us"

"We just need to make sure it works with multiple people."

"Plus we both know you guys have nothing better to do." Fred winked at them.

"So, do you want to play?" They asked together.

"I'm in!" Sirius said, and put his hand on the board, which had been moved to the table.

"Me too!" exclaimed Ginny.

Ron and Harry looked at each other and nodded. Harry spoke for them both. "We're in"

Remus looked at them all and shrugged. "What could it hurt?" his hand joined the other 6. They all turned to look at Hermione. She was playing with the hem of her shirt and biting her lip.

"Come on Mione. It will be fun!" Ginny encouraged her. They all nodded.

"It will be an adventure." Said Harry. The excitement in his eyes decided her.

"Okay," She said, putting her hand on top of everyone else's.

"On the count of three." Fred told them.

"One, two, three!" George counted

"Down the rabbit hole!" Eight voices cried together. They all felt a familiar tug around their navels as they were transported into the game.

-0-

"You couldn't have made the landing softer?" Sirius grumbled from under Ron.

"It wasn't so bad when it was just us." George said. A note of apology in his voice. He held out his had to Ginny, helping her stand.

"Merlin! You're heavy! Get off me Fred!" Hermione pushed Fred off her stomach where he had landed in an ungraceful heap.

"Sorry Mione. That landing _was_ a bit rough."

"You think?" Remus said as he fought a smile. He and Harry had managed to keep their feet. Watching the others untangle themselves was a sight to see. Once everyone was standing they studied each other. "Well, who do you think we are?" Remus directed his question at Hermione and the twins. He hadn't read the book and guessed that none of the others had either.

"Hmmm… let me look at you." Hermione started walking around each of them, starting with Sirius. He was now sporting a poorly fitting violet suit, with pants that were too small and a jacket that was just a little too big. The shirt underneath was a shocking orange. The inside of the coat was lined with pockets. Many of which had watches, but a few had tea cups. His top hat was wider than normal and was the same bright orange as the shirt with a violet band around the base. "Well, you're obviously the Mad Hatter." She grinned as she told him. He just grinned back, not at all upset by his character.

She looked at Ron next and couldn't help the laugh that escaped her. Everyone else had been staring at him, and his own eyes were wide as he looked at the white paws that had replaced his hands. "Well, you're an easy one. You're the White Rabbit!" She laughed louder at his look of horror.

"I'm a bloody rabbit!"

"And a smashing good one at that" Fred told him with mock seriousness. Ron now had white fur covering most of his body, with paws replacing his hands and feet. He was wearing a red waist coat with a golden chain hanging from the pocket.

"It's not _that _bad Ron" Ginny told him. "Let's just hope there aren't any hawks around here." They all laughed again. Hermione turned to the Twins next.

"Well, you two are easy as well. You're" Fred cut her off.

"Tweedle-Dee" Fred bowed

"And Tweedle-Dum" George copied Fred's bow. "That's who we were last time too."

"So that leaves you three." She turned to Harry, Ginny, and Remus. "Well, Ginny, I would hazard a guess that you are the Queen of Hearts." Ginny was in an elaborate red and black dress. The base of the fabric was black, but covered with crimson hearts. The top had a sweetheart neck line that came down to a point at her waist, making her whole top half a heart. She had off the shoulder poufy sleeves in black. Her hair was in an elaborate up-do, and a tiara rested on her head. The crown itself consisted of a ruby heart surrounded by black gems. All set in white gold. She was striking.

"That's awesome!" Ginny twirled around, making her dress flare out.

"So, why am I blue?" Remus asked looking down at himself. He was holding a pipe and seemed to have grown an extra set of arms. He swung them around experimentally.

"I think you are supposed to be the caterpillar, but I'm not sure why you have a pipe instead of a hookah." Hermione tilted her head in thought.

"That would be our idea." George stepped forward.

"We found that a hookah was too much to lug through the game, so we made it a pipe." Fred explained.

"Huh, well then do you know who Harry is? He looks almost like a knight. Not sure why I can't place him."

"He looks like the knave." Said George, squinting.

"Oh course! Makes sense he would be part of the Red court. So that makes me" Hermione looked at her blue dress with white apron. "Alice."

"Hey, it makes sense. You even have an orange cat!" Fred's excitement was building again.

"Okay, so we programmed this game to be shorter, we didn't think you would want to play for too long the first time." George told them all as they gathered in a loose circle.

"We have to complete 3 challenges. The first seems to be painting the roses red." Here Fred waved to the path that appeared in front of them. Both sides were lined with white rose bushes. Cans of paint with brushes were waiting at the head.

"The thing is that once you start you only have 3 minutes to paint all the roses, or you start again."

"Three minutes Fred! There must be hundreds of roses and we don't even have wands here!" Hermione was beside herself. How were they going to do this?

"Okay, so four of us on each side. They don't have to be perfect right?" Harry looked at the twins, they shook their head no. "So just slap the paint on as quickly as you can and move on. Sound like a plan?" They all nodded in agreement.

The eight friend's each grabbed a can of paint and a brush. "Ready, set, go!" Shouted Harry. They all began to paint the roses. The second they started, card soldiers unfolded from the end of the path.

"Fred, George! What is this!?" Ginny screeched at her brothers.

"Well they keep the time." Fred answered slightly out of breath. Hermione didn't want to admit it, but the race against time was exhilarating. Paint was flying everywhere. Remus was using all four hands to paint. Sirius had taken to scooping paint up in one of his many tea cups and was throwing it on the flowers. Both looked 10 years younger with paint on their faces and childlike grins. Ron was using his paw. Dipping it in the paint, then giving the flowers what looked like a high-five.

The twins had more paint on them than their brushes. Harry and Ginny were moving at a steady but ground eating pace. The closer they got too the cards, the faster they all painted. Globs of red were flying from every direction, and with seconds to spare, they finished the last of the roses. The cards folded down again. Sounds of heavy breathing filled the air. Then, surprising them all, Remus let out a whoop of joy and punched the air. Like a cord had been cut, they all fell to the grass covered ground laughing.

"That was brilliant!" Sirius shouted.

"Yeah mate, what's next?" Ron asked as he got to his feet.

"It looks like we will be playing chess" As George spoke, a giant chess board was pushing its' way out of the ground in front of them. Instead of the usual black and white squares, the board was red and white. The pieces matched the board, with the red pieces being the closest to them.

"Sweet Circe on a stick. Is this going to be like wizard's chess?" Hermione, Harry, and Ron all had a flashback to first year. Hermione visibly shivered, remembering the brutal pieces. Remus, who was closest, wrapped two of his four arms around her, hugging her to his side. She briefly thought that being hugged by two arms on the same side should be weird, but she relaxed into him anyways.

"Not exactly like wizard's chess. We were worried that would be a turn off for buyers, so instead of getting smashed to pieces, you get wrapped in vines and taken off the board." Fred told them happily. As if they should be excited about their less violent improvement. At their shocked looks he quickly added. "Just until the end of the game!"

"So what happens if we don't win?" Remus asked.

"Well then you start the challenges over." George said.

"Challenges? You have to do them both again?" Hermione wanted to clarify.

"Yep!" The twins answered her.

Once again Harry took charge. "Okay Ron, you're our best chess player, along with Sirius and Remus. Do you think you can get us through?"

"Sure mate. I'm sure we can do it." Ron assured him. They all walked over and lined up behind the pieces. Ginny and Harry took the places of the King and Queen. "Right, everyone in place? Now we wait." White moved and the game began. Ron, Sirius, and Remus worked together to win their way across the board. Unfortunately, they couldn't save everyone. Hermione was one of the first captured, followed shortly by Fred and George. Siting on the side of the board wasn't as bad as Hermione thought it would be. Watching her friends battle the white chess pieces was entertaining. The twins were on either side of here also wrapped in vines. The pawns that had been captured sat quietly on the side, waiting.

"So what do you think Mione?" Fred asked. Leaning as close as the vines would allow.

"It's brilliant. You two constantly amaze me with what you can do."

"Thanks Hermione!" George said, trying to lean over and kiss her cheek. His arms and legs were bound to his sides though, and he toppled over, landing with his head in her lap.

"So how do you choose the challenges we face?" George was staring up at her, and Fred was trying to squirm closer without falling over.

"Ah, that's part of the magic. We told you we used a daydream charm in the design yeah?" Fred had finally scooted close enough to put his head on her shoulder.

"Right, so that way everyone could share part of the experience and to help design the world in which the game is played" She recited, turning her head to look in Fred's eyes.

George answered her. "This way the players help choose the challenges! Just like they would choose their daydream. We pre-enchanted certain challenges inspired by the book."

"When the charm is activated it chooses from the challenges we already created and picks the best ones for the players." George was still smiling up at her, he had managed to lay on his back. She couldn't think of anything to say to them. It was amazing. The magic itself was complicated, but they managed to present it in such a simple way.

"Merlin." She breathed, "You two are geniuses." Her voice never raising above a whisper. Fred and George smiled as if she had shouted it from the roof tops. Before either of them could say anything, the vines loosened. There was Ginny, holding the white queen's scepter. "You made it!" She yelled, racing to hug her friends.

"Always the tone of surprise." Ron teased her.

"Now what?" Sirius and Harry asked together. Everyone looked to Fred and George. They in turn looked at the lawn in front of them. As they watched card soldiers began to bend over and form arches. A door appeared on the side opposite the party.

"Croquet!" Hermione exclaimed.

"What in Merlin's beard is that?" Ron asked.

"You have to hit a ball through each arch and hit the peg at the end. The player to hit first wins." Fred answered his brother.

"So what's the trick? That doesn't seem too hard." Remus wanted to know.

In answer the twins led them to wear the balls and mallets were waiting. Only they weren't wooden. The balls were knarls and the mallets were bright pink flamingos.

"The balls and mallets move." George answered brightly.

"So how you know whose ball is whose?" Ginny pointed out.

"Well that's part of it. The first person to hit the peg in front of the door wins, and transports us out of the game." Fred began handing out flamingos as he spoke. A knarl followed each flamingo. They all lined up, with Hermione in the front.

"As our resident Alice, I believe you should go first." George bowed elaborately, and gestured towards the cards. Hermione stepped up, swallowing nervously. Sure, she had played the game at home with her parents, but this was decidedly different. She held her flamingo out in front of her and lined the beak up with the knarl. Before she swung, the flamingo looked at her and winked. She smiled back, and hit her knarl. The knarl seemed to be controlling its movements. Instead of just going through the arch directly in front of her, it swerved after the first arch and went through two more.

"Nice one Mione!" Harry clapped her on the back. Sirius took his turn next. His knarl didn't want to go through the arch, instead swerving around to avoid it entirely. He growled lightly, but stepped back so Remus could go. Remus was having trouble with his flamingo. He wasn't sure which hands he should hold it with. Settling with the bottom two, he swung. Right before the flamingo and knarl connected, the flamingo lifted its head and missed the ball. Remus tried to hit a few more times, finally connecting on the last one. Everyone had been laughing as his swings got wilder, finally letting out a cheer when he hit his knarl.

They all had similar problems. Hermione was the only one that seemed to hit her ball with any regularity. Ginny's flamingo kept trying to fly away, and Ron's was perched between his long ears looking like a bizarre parody of an umbrella. They were having too much fun to care who actually won. Just playing together was enough. Hermione watched them all, smiling wider than she had in a long time. They needed to remember to have silly fun like this more often. The twins came and flanked her.

"So, ready to go home?" George asked her.

"I suppose." She said softly. This was so much fun. She really didn't want it to end, but they had things to do back home.

"Hey, no frowns princess," Fred nudged her with his arm, causing her to lose her balance and topple into George. He righted her so she was once again standing between them. "We can come back you know?" Fred continued talking. "This isn't the end."

She smiled up at both of them. "Thank you both for this." She hugged them each in turn. "You're right, can come back." She smiled then turned and hit her knarl through the last arch, where it bumped lightly into the peg stationed in front of the door. Immediately everyone's flamingos stopped trying to get away and, with the knarls, lined back up by the rack. Slightly out of breath, but wearing large smiles, they lined up to walk through the now glowing door.

With a familiar pull behind the navel, they were back in the living room. Unfortunately, there was less room for them to land, and they all ended up in a tangled heap. Ron had the misfortune to end up on the bottom.

"You guys might want to fix that landing."


End file.
